"Ahh, I see. Well, that settles things for sure." Han Leifeng reasoned. "And no offense either, but your high society is really weird. All this talk about cementing business ties by marriage is ridiculous. No one even cares about what I want."
Gao Tinghua could plainly see that Han Leifeng really hated this arrangement, because he had said more non-business talk tonight than he had ever spoken since they got to know each other.
Gao Tinghua sat back, "Oh that's just one reason, trust me. Others include; making a marriage promise before the children were even born, using marriage as a means of repaying a life-saving grace, or even as a result of a Taoist's prediction. Lucky for you that you didn't grow up amidst these kinds of ridiculousness."
Han Leifeng was truly speechless this time. "Ridiculousness" was an understatement. After a moment, he said dryly, "Truly lucky indeed."
"So, have you decided? What do you want to do?"
Han Leifeng nodded slowly. Of course, his goal wasn't this unknown sister at all. He had a wife and son after all. What he needed was to build his network, and fast.
The sooner he could do that, the faster he could take over completely.
"I hope I can attend, not for your sister of course, but to make more solid connections. I was told the cream of the crop will be attending." Han Leifeng spoke up after downing the contents of his glass.
"That's for sure. My mother labored tirelessly over that guest list. Alright, I can get you an invitation then. I'll also introduce you to one or two of our partners."
Han Leifeng knew that this was Gao Tinghua's way of extending the arm of friendship, but he wasn't the kind of person to take advantage of a person's kindness.
He didn't have much—at least not much that Gao Tinghua didn't already have, but at least he had information.
Mentally deciding on what he would give in return, he nodded at Gao Tinghua, "I'll be in your care then."
Gao Tinghua shrugged. The room lapsed into silence again.
Both of them polished off the drinks on their table and rang for the waiter to bring more. Even though their discussion was over, both were preoccupied with their own thoughts, and they sat there in the silence.
One was an heir born out of wedlock, the other was a blueblood but obnoxious aristocratic heir. In a highly judgemental society like the Capital, they were worlds apart.
But what both had in common was that they had few friends, if any at all.
*****
Bai Meixiang stayed in her room, one ear to the door as she waited.
When she heard the familiar footsteps, she smiled. Her smile widened when she noted how disordered his steps were. She straightened and got ready to go out.
Opening the door, she looked in his direction and saw Han Leifeng, who was struggling to open his door. The worker that was assigned to help him had long since retreated.
She smoothly collected the key whilst flashing him a smile, opened the door and led him in.
Light flooded the dark room as she flipped on the switch, and she took in the precise neatness of the room as she held his waist to support him.
She nodded approvingly. It was a plus that he was so organized.
Han Leifeng chose that moment to speak, "What are you doing here?"
It was clear from his voice that he was very tipsy, if not drunk. Bai Meixiang couldn't be sure if he had any drunken habits since he still looked relatively composed, but she hoped he did.
She spoke sweetly, "I heard you come in and I came to see if it was really you."
Han Leifeng had moved out of the house almost a week ago, and it had become very hard to see him. Now that she had decided to pursue him, his decision wasn't in her favour at all.
So as she listened to the panicked voice of the worker that came into the living room to report to Liu Zhizhen that he had arrived, she quickly devised a plan.
Liu Zhizhen had risen up in disgust and retreated to her room immediately.
Han Leifeng groaned. He had taken too many drinks with Gao Tinghua and momentarily forgot that he no longer lived here. He only remembered when he got to the door and saw a keyhole instead of the password door lock his new apartment had.
"You can go now." He intoned.
Bai Meixiang responded, "And leave you to yourself? I don't think so."
She held out her hand for his jacket and went to hang it on the rack, knowing that Han Leifeng was looking at her.
She returned to his side with a smile and put her hand on his shirt to unbutton it.
She had just gotten to the third button when his hands came down on hers, hard, "What do you think you're doing?"
"What does it look like? I'm helping my brother-in-law get ready for bed." In her opinion, his voice was cuter when he was drunk. And he definitely looked more approachable.
If Han Leifeng was in his right mind, he would have been disgusted by her saccharine voice. As it was, he merely frowned in confusion.
Before he could ask why she needed to do that, his shirt was already coming off. His frown deepened, "Stop."
Bai Meixiang hesitated only slightly before she continued, "Let me help you, I don't mind. Besides, I think we're very alike."
Han Leifeng looked at her in suspicion. She had always been ambiguous in her treatment of him, so this eagerness was weird to say the least. He was drunk, but not so drunk that he couldn't notice.
He decided to wait and see what she would do, but when her hand went to his belt, he had had enough.
"Stop and leave right now."
Bai Meixiang noted that his voice had cooled down, sounding more like his usual self, but she didn't want to give up like that. She decided to back off momentarily.
"Would you like some water?"
Han Leifeng couldn't comprehend the change of subject, but his head was aching. He sat down on the bed with another groan.
Bai Meixiang smiled knowingly as she got him a glass of warm water from the dispenser.
He accepted it without a word of thanks and gulped it while she watched. When he set down the glass, he said, "You can leave now. Close the door behind you."
He was really tired and needed to sleep. Once he felt better in a few hours, he would leave immediately. It took only a few minutes in this house for him to start missing the simplicity of his apartment.
At least at that place, there was no sister-in-law.